People shop in the produce section of a grocery store on September 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Kamala Harris proposed a ban on price gouging for groceries.Trust election season to elicit some of the worst policy proposals — the kind of ideas that history has already relegated to a dustbin somewhere with the label “Do not use.” Yet here is Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, floating what appears like a scheme to cap food prices.
Earlier this month, in what was billed as a speech laying out her economic agenda, Harris promised that, if elected, she would call for aWhat exactly did Harris mean by a ban on price-gouging? As with many populist proposals, the terms she used were flashy but provided little substance. However, what she offered sounded an awful lot like price controls.
You can witness the trainwreck of price controls today by looking at Venezuela. The Nicolás Maduro regime expanded price controls, and what Venezuelans got in return was out-of-control inflation that peaked at 130,060% in 2018.Just compare that number to the U.S. peak inflation rate of 15% in 2021. That’s not to say that Americans aren’t still feeling the pain of high prices at the supermarket every week.
Populist proposals are flowing from the left and right. They may sound alluring in political speeches, but voters beware. Some ideas are not just weak — they’re dangerous.. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editorial Page Editor.